Vitrifications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of converting a substance into glass or a glass-like material through the application of heat
2. A transition where materials undergo structural change resulting in a non-crystalline solid form
3. The act of transforming organic or inorganic substances into a glassy state, often used in ceramics and metallurgy

Etymology: The plural "vitrifications" simply counts separate instances of the process, so its story is really the story of the noun "vitrification." That noun is built from two Latin pieces: "vitrum," meaning glass, and the verb-forming suffix "-ificāre," which turns a noun into a verb meaning "to make into" something, as in "facere" to make. Put together, the Late Latin "vitrificāre" meant "to glassify," and the noun "vitrificātio" named the act of doing so. The English word came to us through French, which had its own "vitrification," and the Spanish and Italian forms follow the same pattern. The shared construction shows how easily European scientific vocabulary was built from Latin parts. Because "vitrum" also gave English words such as "vitreous," the same root sits behind the glassy sheen of a ceramic glaze and the plain process of heating sand until it fuses.